


Organic Material Recovery

by Trilled



Series: Terminations [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Implied/Referenced Abortion, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trilled/pseuds/Trilled
Summary: While doing work in the space that was formerly the Bajoran community quarters during the Occupation, Chief O'Brien makes a shocking discovery, forcing Kira to share stories about the Occupation that had been kept quiet to most.
Series: Terminations [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923052
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	Organic Material Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't work out exactly which archive warnings should be on this story, but please read the tags before reading further.  
> Phar'ya is a Bajoran word I made up in other stories. It is a term for half Bajoran, half Cardassian children.

Kira was caught up in paperwork when her combadge beeped from O'Brien.

“Kira here.” She responded, tapping her badge. 

“Major,” his voice sounded shaky. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these but I need you down in the gym for... umm... organic material recovery. Can you bring your Vedek down too? Doctor Bashir is on his way.”

Kira gulped. It had been a while she’s heard that code word, one more commonly used during the earlier days of the Federation being on the station. It had been used as a more discrete was to say a dead body found hidden away, most likely during the Occupation.

“I’m on my way.” Was all she could respond with, heading down to the Promenade to the Bajoran temple to find the senior Vedek on duty, before taking the turbolift to what had been the community quarters only 3 years ago, but was now redesigned as a gym and sports courts for station residents.

Stepping out the turbo lift she saw Bashir not far ahead, pushing an anti-grav bed with a black body bag on it. As she got closer she saw it wasn’t just one bag, but rather a stack of small, neatly folded bags, as well as several biological specimen boxes.

What the hell had O’Brien found? She wondered.

She quickened her pace to activate the door for him. He barely acknowledged her, focused on his task.

O'Brien stood at the far side of the room, looking pale but still standing, which was better than the officer that could be heard in the change room, throwing up.

They wove their way through various exercise machines.

“I don’t know how we missed this when the community quarters were redeveloped. I guess we never touched this bulkhead, so no one ever discovered what was behind here.” O'Brien started loosening the panel. “I’ll warn you, it’s pretty confronting.”

The panel came off, and tiny bones fell out the wall, then Kira noticed the mummified body. A baby’s body.

“Oh prophets.” She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. 

“I haven’t scanned the whole wall yet, but a visual count I would say there are hundreds here. Hot air from the ore processing conduits would have kept the air behind this bulkhead fairly dry, and no one would have been the wiser.” O’Brien explained. He removed a second lower panel to reveal more, and then stood aside for the Vedek.

Bashir and O’Brien stood silently as the Vedek prayed for the paghs of all the bodies they’d found, Kira joining in with the ancient words, and eventually the Bajoran engineering worker, now recovered from his shock.

The Vedek finished and quickly left, desperate to get away from the sight. 

Kira squatted down in front of the panel, looking at the mummified bodies. Her hand hovered over the head of the nearest, Bajoran nose ridges and Cardassian eye scales clearly visible. “They’re all phar'yas.” She mentioned softly. “Doctor, I don’t want you identifying the parents of all these babies other than race. The mothers won’t want their remains back, they never wanted them in the first place.”

“You can’t know that Major.” O’Brien told her. “These were someone’s babies.”

Bashir started passively scanning the remains. “The Major is right. Most of these babies never took their first breath. There are smaller ones that were pre-term, and I am guessing many more we will never know about as they were terminated before bones were formed.”

“Abortions? Who would do that?” O’Brien was shocked by the idea.

Kira stood up, a shiver running down her spine. “Bajoran women pregnant with a Cardassian baby. Comfort women, Cardassian mistresses, collaborators with something to hide, women who had been raped.” She closed eyes, willing herself to stay in control over reminders from the Occupation.

She felt Bashir’s hand on her shoulder. “Major, are you okay?”

Kira nodded, pulling away. “Um... doctor, if you could get these remains ready for transport, I’ll see that they get returned to Bajoran soil.”

“I will at least need to catalogue how many, age, and cause of death.”

“Doctor, you will probably find that in most cases it was a sharp instrument at the base of the skull. It’s the quickest and most humane way.”

Both Bashir and O’Brien looked at her sharply, shocked by what she so casually admitted.

“I’ll inform Captain Sisko and Odo of this find, and let you know about transport.” She turned to leave but Bashir stopped her.

“Kira, a word please.”

O’Brien realised he wanted a private talk. “I’ll just pack away here. We won’t be doing anymore repairs until this is cleared away. I’ll take my team and leave you to your job Julian.” Quickly he packed away tools and encouraged his engineering team to leave.

“Major, I can’t help but be a bit disturbed by your last comment.” He slowly started unpacking his equipment, finding a PADD to write notes on.

“Just a bit doctor?” She laughed at the idea. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you doctor that I have killed before. The Cardassians didn’t leave because we asked them nicely.”

“But humane ways to kill someone? That doesn’t sound like something a terrorist would do.”

“You’d be surprised what medical knowledge I have when it comes to quick and quiet methods to kill a person.”

“Why humane? Not something I would have thought you would do for a Cardassian or collaborator.”

“But I would for a friend. Those suffering and too injured for recovery, those marked for Cardassian torture and execution. There are things worse than death.”

“And will a find your DNA in that pile?” he looked over to the bulkhead.

Kira shook her head, knowing what information he was fishing for. “I rarely came up to the station during the Occupation, but you won’t find my DNA in any similar collections on Bajor either. Just please leave these women in peace though.” She left quickly before Bashir could find another question.

=/\=

Kira stepped into Odo's office, throwing herself into the chair opposite his desk. 

“Major, what can I do for you?” he looked up from his work. 

Words kept forming in her mouth, but none seemed quite right.

“Are you okay Major? Would you like a drink?” he offered, seeing her in need of time to process whatever was concerning her.

She nodded, and he ordered a raktajino from the replicator, two measures of kava, just as she liked it.

She slowly sipped the hot drink, thoughts still racing, but starting to find order. “Chief O'Brien was working behind a bulkhead in the gym, in what use to be the community quarters. He found bodies in the bulkhead.” She eventually told him.

“Oh.” Was all Odo could say. “Ore workers, or resistance members?”

“Neither. They were babies. Hundreds of phar’yas. Doctor Bashir suspects they were mostly from terminated pregnancies.”

Odo grunted in disgust. “The Cardassian soldiers never could keep their hands off the Bajoran women. You’d think they’d at least have the decency to make sure pregnancies never happened.”

“In my experience, they never seemed to consider what came after. We were all disposable.”

Odo looked at her sharply, putting down the data PADD in his hand. “Your experience?”

She realised she’d let slip too much, and just quietly nodded. “Cardassian interrogation is brutal.”

Odo nodded in agreement. “I did my best to make sure that never happened in here, under my watch. Unfortunately I can’t say that it didn’t happen behind my back in closed quarters.”

“I’m sure you did your best Odo.” She drained her drink, the caffeine boosting her confidence and control over her memories. “I’ll be returning all these bodies to Bajor, but I’ve asked Doctor Bashir not to identify their families. These atrocities need to be laid to rest. Discretely.”

“If you are sure that families wouldn’t want the remains returned to them.”

“I am certain of it.”

“What about bringing to justice the Cardassians who did this?”

“Dukat probably fathered half of them.” She mused. “I’m sure Ziyal wasn’t his only child. But I don’t see Cardassia letting us punish their soldiers for these crimes, even if we could prove it happened as a crime and not by choice.” She stood up to leave. “I also don’t think it would be a good idea going after whichever doctor did this. Although I assume you would know who it was.”

“Major, there were several medically trained Bajorans kept in the community quarters who were required to treat injuries to keep the ore workers alive. I can imagine they would have all been sympathetic to a pregnant Bajoran woman carrying a Cardassian child. I could get you names, but they have committed no crime.”

“Anyone working in those conditions and being able to do such acts of compassion behind the Cardassian's back was brave.”

Odo nodded in agreement, “Major, there is an Occupation memorial garden that has been built in Jalanda City. That might be a good resting place.” 

Kira smiled at the suggestion. “That is a good idea. I wasn’t sure who would want to receive them. That was going to be my next task. Thank you.”

As she left Odo’s office she saw a Starfleet nurse heading out the Infirmary with another anti-grav bed loaded with bags and boxes.

Arriving up in Ops she found O’Brien already there, chatting casually with Dax and drinking a coffee. She clearly heard him mutter the words ‘bloody Cardassians”.

She sided up to them by Dax’s science station. “I’m sorry you found that Chief. It can’t have been pleasant.”

“It’s not your fault Major. Bloody Cardassians. I know Setlik III was horrendous, but I can’t imagine what those poor women would have gone through to do that.”

Kira nodded. “It’s hard to put yourself in their shoes. But the amount of half cast children still in our orphanages is quite high. It was quite common.”

“How are you Kira?” Dax asked, putting her hand on Kira’s shoulder in comfort.

“Trying not to think about it, because after Dr Bashir has cleared out that bulkhead and catalogued everything he found, I then have to take a runabout full of dead babies to Bajor.” She gripped Dax’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I don’t envy you that job. Or Julian’s.” O’Brien commented, taking a big gulp of his drink.

“Does the Captain know yet?” Kira asked, looking in through his office doors.

“Not yet. I was waiting for you to arrive Major. Hopefully you have a bit more of an idea of what we’re dealing with to fill in the captain.”

“Someone is going to have to tell him.” Dax tapped her combadge. “Dax to Sisko. Benjamin, can you come out here?” 

They watched him as he got up from his desk, walking out to Ops.

“What is it Old Man?” He slowed when he saw the expression on their faces. “This doesn’t feel like good news.”

Kira gestured to O’Brien to start.

“Today I was meant to be working down in the gym, retrofitting a replicator in there and hooking up the power behind the bulkheads. When I took the cover off the bulkhead, well I found, I mean to says, um,”

“Doctor Bashir is currently down there doing organic material recovery.” Kira finished.

Sisko looked stunned. “Really? I thought those days were past us, that internal sensors had found all hidden Bajoran remains.”

“We scanned all the access tunnels, reactor core, ore processing, and other logical hiding places, but we never thought to actually scan all the bulkheads.” Dax explained.

“Besides which, the organic material isn’t entirely Bajoran. It’s part Cardassian too.” Kira finished.

“There are Cardassian bodies in the bulkhead too?”

Kira shook her head. “It would seem that during the Occupation, that one of the doctors sent to help the ore workers, also assisted with pregnancy terminations for women who were pregnant to Cardassians. The remains are of those infants.”

“Infants? Who would do such a thing?” Sisko was equally as shocked as the others had been by the idea.

“Desperate women. Ashamed women. Hurt women.” Kira tried to explain. “Odo reminded me of an Occupation memorial garden in Jalanda City that might be a good resting place for these remains. I was about to contact them. Hopefully they will have the space.”

“Very well Major. If it’s a matter of money, let them know that the Emissary will make a sizeable donation to them. This should not be something that goes forgotten.”

“Really sir?” Kira was amazed by his generosity. “I was just going to pay for it myself.”

“And I was going to ask if they’d take latinum since I won a sizeable amount from the Ferengi waiters playing Tongo last week.” Dax offered.

“Why don’t we pass around the metaphorical hat and see who else would like to chip in.” Sisko suggested.

“Major, that bulkhead cover panel was just going to be put into storage once the replicator is installed,” O’Brien told her. “I know it’s just duranium sheeting, but it wouldn’t feel right to reuse it elsewhere. If there is going to be a memorial, then I think it would be fitting if it were turned into a plaque, so people understand what happened here.”

“Thank you Chief.” She forced a smile at all of them. “All of you really. I appreciate what you have offered.” She slapped her thighs, standing up off the edge of Dax's science console. “I guess I better put in a few calls to Bajor.” 

=/\=

Kira had wanted the whole matter dealt with discretely. In the end it was the respectful way that the Starfleet officers had dealt with not only the remains, but the stories and Bajoran lives behind them that made her realise that no matter how shameful, these atrocities needed to be shared in order for Bajor to heal.

Even Ministers on Bajor had agreed, these unwanted lives should never be forgotten, nor the women who had bore them. Sisko had insisted that the Defiant be bought in to transport not only the remains recovered from the bulkhead, but bring the entire senior staff to Bajor for the official memorial.

They stood around in the mild autumn day, listening to Vedeks intone prayers for their paghs, for the paghs of their mothers who had been subject to Cardassian brutality, even for the doctors who had helped. The bulkhead that O’Brien had etched Kira’s words onto now permanently rested in front of a newly planted sapling.

“Major, that was a touching service.” Sisko told her after as dignitaries and officials started dispersing.

“It felt like it was the right thing to do.”

“Honouring the dead, no matter who they are, is always the right thing to do.” Bashir commented. “And after the time I spent cleaning out that bulkhead, I am glad you were able to organise this.” He gestured to the new memorial space planted.

“And I’m sure there are many women who will appreciate having their Occupation experiences validated. I couldn't imagine it.” Dax shivered at the thought.

Kira looked around at the senior staff gathered together. “Somewhere in the hills of Dahkur is a beautiful Krelo tree with a small flat rock at the base and a name etched on it for my child that never should have been.”

**Author's Note:**

> There is a prelude to this story that explains the last line to this story. I'm hesitant to post since it expands on this idea, and is more graphic.


End file.
